A Passion for JesusSample

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day hated him. He didn’t play by their rules. He didn’t fit in their boxes. They envied his power and felt threatened by his following. They often tried to trap Jesus in his words. They wanted him dead.

One winter amidst the Feast of Dedication, they questioned Jesus, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24 ESV).

A back-and-forth argument ensued, in which they thought Jesus was blaspheming. In his response, Jesus answered them plainly, “Do you say… ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:36 ESV).

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. The religious leaders knew it. They understood him perfectly and picked up stones to stone him for this claim. In their minds it couldn’t be true. Jesus must be a liar or a lunatic. There was no way he was Lord.

Jesus knew who he was. His birth had been supernatural. An angel spoke to his mother, saying, “The child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 ESV). By the time he was twelve years-old Jesus already spoke about God as his Father. This became how Jesus most often referred to God. Every prayer to his Father would have been reminder that he was the Son. Throughout all four gospels we read of Jesus walking in a unique intimacy with God the Father. At his baptism God spoke from heaven, saying “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17 ESV). And again, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5 ESV). Satan even tempted Jesus based on this identity, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here” (Matthew 4:6 ESV).

But Jesus didn’t need to prove his identity. He was confident in who he was. Jesus knew that before the world existed, he had been with the Father in glory. He knew he was there before any of the Old Testament patriarchs. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58 ESV). He claimed, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:46 ESV). Jesus knew he was in the world as the radiance of the glory of God, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

This was why the religious leaders wanted to kill him. Jesus unmistakably called God his own Father and claimed to be the only Son of God.

If this is true, what will you do?